'Challenging Test cricket is the most exciting thing' - Kohli

"A challenging situation in Test cricket is the most exciting thing a viewer can see, and for a player playing to feel. You can sense that energy, which no other format can provide for you."

When India's most popular current cricketer, their Test captain who can lead crowds like the Pied Piper, says these words, you can relax that at least for this generation Test cricket is safe in India, and that as a player he will do his best to hand it down.

Through the second Test, which India won to become the No. 1 Test team in the world, Virat Kohli kept asking the small Eden Gardens crowd - still often big enough to fill out some stadiums - to make noise every time New Zealand put together a partnership. He entertained them with a sparkling knock of 45 in a crisis situation in the second innings, which was cut short by a shooter.

"It's our responsibility to keep Test cricket where it belongs," Kohli said, "and if we play cricket like this - you saw how engaged the crowd was, they like to see exciting cricket, and we have to provide it. You have to interact with them, you have to make sure they are a part of the whole thing. You feed off their energy. It happens so much in limited overs, so why not in Test cricket?"

A loud crowd, Kohli said, makes a big difference for the home team. "We experience that when we go to Australia, when we go to England, South Africa. They get a couple of wickets, the crowd gets behind really loud and as a batsman you understand that it creates a lot of pressure, you feel nervous. So I just try to think as a batsman, how I would feel. Walking in, the ball is reverse-swinging and the crowd's going mad behind a bowler who is warm, who is willing to take a wicket. It makes a huge difference.

"We were able to pick up two, three wickets. The crowd also loves it, you engage them for the betterment of the team. A bowler who is tired… Shami would have bowled three overs but he fed off the energy and he bowled 12 more balls for the team, got another wicket. So we will not be waking up at 6:30 again tomorrow."

In the process, Kohli said, this Test showed them important lessons too. "This was a Test match that had to be fought out," he said. "Which took character from all the players. This was a Test match that players took as an opportunity to build character rather than pressure. The more we win Test matches like this the more we will understand how Test cricket is played, how Test matches can be won. So we can keep repeating those things. It's all about feeding those things into your head and keep repeating it."

If it was Ravindra Jadeja scoring crucial lower-order runs in Kanpur, Wriddhiman Saha did it in Kolkata. Rightly they won the Man-of-the-Match awards. Kohli said their batting was the biggest gain from these Tests. "The batting contributions of Jadeja and Umesh Yadav a little bit in the first game - Jadeja in both innings. And Wriddhiman Saha both innings in this game," Kohli said of the gains. "The rest of the guys, we obviously understand that given their day and in a good frame of mind, they will come good. But these two guys are batting at positions that are very important in Test cricket.

"For them to understand their own abilities and get confident, that was one of the main reasons why we waited for three more overs [for the declaration] in Kanpur, to let Jadeja cross 50. Because that way you understand how to get to that again and again. If you declare on 45, he will never get that extra boost of having gotten a half-century in a Test match.

"So it was all about building confidence for a particular individual, because we understand how important his character can be in a situation where maybe you need to play out an hour or you need 40 quick runs again. And that is the guy who is confident and can do the job for you. So as a captain, I think the contribution by Jadeja in the first game and Saha here (were the main gains). Saha has been doing really well this year, I wish him well to keep going. Obviously a keeper coming good for you is an added bonus."